CHAPTER 8 INTERNAL STAFFING AND CAREER …

1 1 CHAPTER 8 INTERNAL STAFFING AND CAREER management ISSUES learning objectives After you have read this CHAPTER , you should be able to: understand the reasons for the design of a proper INTERNAL STAFFING programme identify the factors that influence INTERNAL STAFFING decisions name the advantages of INTERNAL STAFFING identify the various types of INTERNAL STAFFING strategies discuss the guidelines for the selection of the best type of INTERNAL STAFFING strategy describe the elements necessary for a successful CAREER management function examine the problems that typically confront employees when seeking to advance their careers define a plateaued employee CHAPTER Outline 1. Reasons underlying the design of a proper INTERNAL STAFFING programme o Employee dissatisfaction o Increasing concerns with job security o Changing employee attitudes and concerns o Employment equity issues o Labour union presence 2.

2 Factors influencing STAFFING decisions 3. Advantages of INTERNAL STAFFING 4. Requirements for effective INTERNAL STAFFING 5. Types of INTERNAL STAFFING strategies o Pure selection strategy o Vocational guidance strategy o A compromise STAFFING strategy 6. Guidelines for the selection of the most effective INTERNAL STAFFING strategies o Selection ratio o Performance costs o Type of job 7. Various approaches to INTERNAL STAFFING o Promotion o Demotion o Transfers o Lay-offs o Downsizing/retrenchment o Resignations, quits and dismissals 2 o Retirement o Cost of employee separations 8. CAREER management o Benefits to the organisation 9. The changing face of CAREER management 10. Successful CAREER management o Organisational CAREER planning o Individual CAREER planning o Integrating plans o Implementing programmes o Evaluation of CAREER programmes 11.

3 The plateaued employee 12. Dual- CAREER couples Teaching Tips Few things seem as important to students as their careers - whether in mid- CAREER or just ready to start out - a successful CAREER spiced with promotions is a primary goal. There is generally a difference in perspective between those students who have years of work experience and those students with little or no experience. An opening question could be pitched to two panels - one panel composed of 3-6 students with the most, and another composed of students with the least, work experience. Question: "How do employees get promoted in South Africa today? That is, on what basis are employees promoted?" Discussion on this question should lead into official and unofficial promotion criteria. When asked whether these unofficial criteria (like friendships and social connections) are really important in getting promotions, our students enthusiastically reply "Yes indeed!

4 " Layoffs and alternatives to layoffs is often another fruitful topic for discussion. The text does not simply list all of the alternatives, and so students can be asked whether they or anyone they know has been laid off. Prompted by that answer, ask whether there are alternatives to laying off employees. What if an employer lays off employees cyclically or seasonally? Lead students into the new concept of HR balancing, which is simply a comprehensive approach or listing of various tactics used to avoid layoffs during downsizing or reorganisation. This discussion incorporates demotions, transfers, and early retirements and students should also be made aware of some of the legal implications in this area especially with the recent Labour Relations Amendment Act 12 of 2002.

5 Our students are often depressed after we draw the flattened out organisational structure. However, this is the new workplace reality and it has consequences for their CAREER paths. The exercise What are you going to do with your life? should be assigned one class ahead of your discussion of CAREER management and the material in the second half of the CHAPTER . See our discussion of the exercise for some tips in getting a realistic 3 discussion about careers started, springboarding off the homework. This is yet another excellent CHAPTER for bringing in a HR professional, top manager responsible for promotions or the Employment Equity Manager as a guest speaker. Ask for the names, copies of promotion policies, and examples of test questions that might be used for promotional decisions.

6 There are plenty of articles about careers and INTERNAL STAFFING practices in business and HR practitioner (as well as academic) journals. Hand out an article that emphasises part of HR balancing, the glass ceiling, or assessment centres or have students write a one-page reaction paper about an article they located. Integrating the training CHAPTER with the material on promotions and careers, the group exercise, designing a diversity training programme can help tie several chapters together. See our notes on that exercise. We believe that it is important to stress the interrelatedness of this CHAPTER with other chapters both at the beginning of the discussion and at the end. CASE STUDY Assessment Centre at Sun Rise Insurance The Sun Rise Insurance company s personnel committee entered the executive conference room, took their seats, drank coffee from styrofoam cups, and chatted amiably among themselves.

7 Each of the organisation s six major departments was represented, typically by the department head. They included Kathy Morris, claims manager; Allen Mazula, manager of personal lines, and Lynn Snead, manager of group insurance. They were waiting for Jerry Smyth, head of Sun Rise s HR department and chairman of the personnel committee. The committee members had only a vague notion of what the meeting was about; the memo calling the session spoke sparingly of problems with promotion decisions and a need to develop a system for making more effective promotion decisions . The Sun Rise Insurance Company is a medium-sized, rapidly growing insurance company based in Kwa-Zulu Natal. Sun Rise Insurance is one of 18 insurance companies owned by Tidewater, a large insurance holding company. Offering a variety of personal, home, and life 4 insurance coverage, Sun Rise has recently captured a sizable niche in the group insurance market.

8 Their labour force totals about 4,500 employees, including about 600 line managers and staff administrators. Smyth, about five minutes late, hurriedly took his chair at the end of the conference table. After uttering a brief apology for his tardiness, he got to the point: Smyth: This afternoon we need to discuss a serious personnel problem that we ve had in this organisation for some time. As I m sure you are all aware, we have recurring performance problems at the first level of management . Deadlines are frequently missed, and quality control is almost nonexistent. Turnover among the clerical staff and sales personnel is about twice what it should be. And our annual employee attitude surveys show that our supervisors are in dire need of both work-oriented and people-oriented skills. We have much job dissatisfaction at the clerical and salesperson levels, and all fingers point to supervision.

9 Besides, the productivity audit conducted last year by our management consultants, Cheek and Associates, confirmed that our first level of supervision was one of the organisation s weakest links. To make a long story short, we need to consider alternative ways to strengthen our first-line supervision. Morris: But Jerry, each new manager is required to attend a 40-hour supervisory training programme offered by your department. Isn t the programme having any impact? Smyth: Well, we haven t been satisfied with the results of our evaluation studies. Currently we re looking at ways to improve our management training. Mazula: Jerry, you don t turn someone into a supervisor in one week. What else are we doing to develop the skills of our new managers? 5 Smyth: Several things. First, we generally pay for an employee to attend a seminar as long as it s related to the job.

10 Second, we reimburse employees for expenses they receive in getting a university degree. And as you know, we also encourage all middle managers to work closely with their supervisors to develop skills through on-the-job coaching. Snead: Besides taking a closer look at our T&D programmes, what else can we do to improve our supervision? Smyth: I think we need to make some significant changes in the way we make promotion decisions, particularly when promoting a non- management employee into the first level of management . We re currently promoting about 75 employees a year into supervision. Historically, we ve promoted someone because of a high degree of technical skills. But technical skills play only a minor role in supervision. I m afraid we ve tried to make supervisors out of a good number of people who simply don t have the aptitudes to be successful managers.